A YOUNG woman threatened to jump from the roof of a three storey building in a Kent village.

At one stage the 22-year-old woman had her legs dangling over the roof. But after a delicate two-hour operation she was finally talked down by trained police negotiators.

The drama happened in the high street at Newington, near Sittingbourne, which was closed by police during the incident which began just before 8am on Wednesday.

The road is the narrowest section of the A2 between London and Dover and traffic had to be diverted around nearby lanes.

Police spokesman Sally Smith said: “The woman, who lives locally, had her legs dangling over the roof so there were obvious concerns for her safety. Our specially trained officers managed to talk her safely down.

“She is now staying with a family member and the incident was due to domestic reasons but I cannot go into any more details.”

Sittingbourne ambulance station manager Lee Smith said: “We were able to wrap her in blankets in the flat below the roof after the incident and then take her to Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham because she was suffering from exposure.”

The flat-roofed building was formerly Newington Strings violin shop which is on the junction with Station Road.

Owner of the newsagents nearly opposite, Mana Malhotra, said: “We had to close the shop for almost three hours due to the incident because police would not let anybody in or out.”

Juggernauts were forced to stack up on the A2 because they were not able to negotiate the narrow diversion lanes nearby.